Nate Oats updates status of Alabama basketball's roster as practice begins
Alabama basketball should finally be able to see a healthy Alex Tchikou on the court this fall. During a Wednesday Zoom call with reporters, Nate Oats provided an update on the redshirt freshman forward, stating that he’s “almost back to 100 percent” from an Achilles injury that forced him to miss his first season on campus.
“He’s able to participate in most of the drills,” Oats said, “he’s just not back to where he’s in shape to do everything, but he’s getting there.”
Tchikou, a native of Paris, France, came to the Crimson Tide from Dream City Christian School in Glendale, Ariz. The 6-foot-11, 205-pounder was rated as the No. 36 overall player and No. 6 power forward in the 2020 class.
Oats also said that sophomore Keon Ambrose-Hylton suffered a minor knee injury Tuesday, but stated the 6-foot-8, 205 pound forward is day-to-day and isn’t expected to miss any games.
Texas Tech transfer guard Nimari Burnett is out for the year after suffering a season-ending knee injury last month. Senior forward James Rojas will miss the beginning of the season after tearing his ACL in June but is expected to return to the team by SEC play.
Alabama is still at 13 scholarship players as none of its seniors from last season’s team applied for an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19. The Tide returns its two leading scorers from last year in guards Jaden Shackelford (14.0 points per game) and Jahvon Quinerly (12.9 points per game) as well as senior wing Keon Ellis, who served as one of the biggest defensive weapons off the bench.
The injuries to Burnett and Rojas should also open up more playing time for other returning role players such as redshirt sophomore Juwan Gary and sophomore Darius Miles.
“Juwan obviously played in the rotation last year, I think eight minutes a game,” Oats said. “He was an energy guy, also a guy who played hard. I think his biggest area of improvement he needed to make was in shooting the ball to get more minutes. He is shooting the ball much better, he’s put a lot of time into it. I hope he can make a jump similar to what Herb [Jones] made going into Herb’s senior year. … His role should increase. It will increase if he continues to play the way he’s been playing.
“Darius had to get a lot more consistent, had to get stronger. He’s gotten stronger. His consistency’s starting to come around. The great day of practice is starting to become great days in a row. We’ve just got to continue to get consistency, his turnovers got to come down. But his playmaking ability, his athleticism, his shot-making, it’s all there. He’s got all the tools, he’s just got to put it together on a consistent basis from day-to-day.”
Along with Burnett, Alabama welcomed in four other additions this offseason, including Furman graduate-transfer forward Noah Gurley as well as three freshmen in five-star guard JD Davison, four-star center Charles Bediako and four-star guard Jusaun Holt.
Wednesday, Oats provided an update on each of his three incoming freshmen.
On Davison: "He’s been better than what I thought in a lot of areas. His passing ability, you saw some in AAU, but with his high school team he had to score it so much, you didn’t see how great of a passer he is. He can really pass the ball, I mean he’s leading the team in assists in these first five practices.”
On Bediako: “He’s something like we haven’t had since I’ve been here. He’s a shot-blocker, a rim-protector. You know, he puts a lot of pressure on the rim, rolling out on pick and rolls, sprinting the floor in transition. He doesn’t miss much around the rim. His finishing percentage around the rim is high. His rebounding numbers are high, and he can really block shots. When guys try to challenge him at the rim, it looks a lot more like trying to challenge an SEC big than maybe what we had in the past.”
On Holt: "Jusaun Holt’s really starting to shoot the ball better. It seems like he’s a lot more comfortable in the offense. His energy’s good. He’s been rebounding the ball at a high clip.”
Alabama began practice last week and will hold a charity exhibition on Oct. 24 against Louisiana before opening up its season against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 9.
